Entertainment machine using biometric information

Abstract

An entertainment machine using biometric information is disclosed. In one embodiment, the entertainment machine detects biometric information of a customer. The biometric information of the customer is compared against a database of biometric information of a number of predetermined people other than the customer, to yield one or more people having biometric information that most closely match the biometric information of the customer. These predetermined people may be famous people, such as sports stars, movie stars, public figures, and so on. The entertainment machine indicates to the customer the identities of the people having biometric information that most closely match the biometric information of the customer.

1 . A method comprising: 
 detecting biometric information of a customer by an entertainment machine;    comparing the biometric information of the customer against a database of biometric information of a plurality of predetermined people other than the customer to yield one or more people having biometric information that most closely matches the biometric information of the customer; and,    indicating to the customer by the entertainment machine of identities of the one or more people having biometric information that most closely matches the biometric information of the customer.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein detecting the biometric information of the customer comprises acquiring one or more of: facial images of the customer; voice samples of the customer; fingerprint scans of the customer; handprint scans of the customer; and, retinal or other eye scans of the customer.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein comparing the biometric information of the customer against the database of biometric information of the plurality of predetermined people other than the customer comprises comparing the biometric information of the customer against one or more databases selected from the group of databases comprising: a database of biometric information of a plurality of famous individuals; a database of biometric information of a plurality of sports stars; a database of biometric information of a plurality of celebrities; a database of biometric information of a plurality of politicians; a database of biometric information of a plurality of historical figures; and, a database of biometric information of a plurality of fictitious characters.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein comparing the biometric information of the customer against the database of biometric information of the plurality of predetermined people other than the customer comprises yielding a predetermined number of the one or more people having biometric information that most closely matches the biometric information of the customer.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein comparing the biometric information of the customer against the database of biometric information of the plurality of predetermined people other than the customer comprises yielding the one or more people having biometric information that most closely matches the biometric information of the customer as the one or more people having biometric information that matches the biometric information of the customer by more than a threshold.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein indicating to the customer by the entertainment machine of the identifies of the one or more people having biometric information that most closely matches the biometric information of the customer comprises displaying at least one of a picture and a name of each of the one or more people.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein indicating to the customer by the entertainment machine of the identifies of the one or more people having biometric information that most closely matches the biometric information of the customer comprises printing a hardcopy of at least one of a picture and a name of each of the one or more people.  
   
   
       8 . An entertainment machine comprising: 
 a biometric acquisition mechanism to obtain biometric information of a customer;    a computer-readable medium having stored thereon a database of biometric information of a plurality of predetermined people;    a comparison mechanism to compare the biometric information of the customer against the database to yield one or more people having biometric information that most closely matches the biometric information of the customer; and,    an output mechanism to indicate to the customer the one or more people having biometric information that most closely matches the biometric information of the customer.    
   
   
       9 . The entertainment machine of  claim 8 , further comprising a credit-accepting mechanism to accept cash-oriented credit from the customer and in response initiate obtaining the biometric information of the customer, comparing the biometric information of the customer against the database, and indicating to the customer the one or more people having biometric information that most closely matches the biometric information of the customer.  
   
   
       10 . The entertainment machine of  claim 8 , wherein the biometric acquisition mechanism comprises one or more of: an image-capturing mechanism to capture at least one of facial images, retinal scans, and eye scans of the customer; a sound-recording mechanism to record voice samples of the customer; and, a touch-sensitive mechanism to obtain at least one of fingerprint scans and handprint scans of the customer.  
   
   
       11 . The entertainment machine of  claim 8 , wherein the database comprises one or more of: a database of biometric information of a plurality of famous individuals; a database of biometric information of a plurality of sports stars; a database of biometric information of a plurality of celebrities; a database of biometric information of a plurality of politicians; a database of biometric information of a plurality of historical figure; and, a database of biometric information of a plurality of fictitious characters.  
   
   
       12 . The entertainment machine of  claim 8 , wherein the output mechanism comprises at least one of: a display device, and a printing device.  
   
   
       13 . A method comprising: 
 detecting biometric information of a first customer by an entertainment machine;    detecting biometric information of a second customer by the entertainment machine;    determining how closely the biometric information of the first customer and the biometric information of the second customer match; and,    indicating how closely the biometric information of the first customer and the biometric information of the second customer match to the first and the second customers by the entertainment machine.    
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein detecting the biometric information comprises acquiring one or more of: facial images; voice samples; fingerprint scans; handprint scans; and, retinal or other eye scans.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein determining how closely the biometric information of the first customer and the biometric information of the second customer match comprises determining a similarity value between the biometric information of the first customer and the biometric information of the second customer.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein indicating how closely the biometric information of the first customer and the biometric information of the second customer match to the first and the second customers comprises displaying the similarity value.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein indicating how closely the biometric information of the first customer and the biometric information of the second customer match to the first and the second customers comprises printing a hardcopy of the similarity value.  
   
   
       18 . An entertainment machine comprising: 
 a biometric acquisition mechanism to obtain biometric information of a first customer and biometric information of a second customer;    a comparison mechanism to determine how closely the biometric information of the first customer matches the biometric information of the second customer; and,    an output mechanism to indicate to the first and the second customers how closely the biometric information of the first customer matches the biometric information of the second customer.    
   
   
       19 . The entertainment machine of  claim 18 , further comprising a credit-accepting mechanism to accept cash-oriented credit from at least one of the first and the second customers and in response initiating obtaining the biometric information, determining how closely the biometric information of the first customer matches the biometric information of the second customer, and indicating to the first and the second customers how closely the biometric information of the first customer matches the biometric information of the second customer.  
   
   
       20 . An entertainment machine comprising: 
 means for obtaining biometric information from a plurality of customers;    means for storing a database of biometric information of a plurality of predetermined plurality;    means for comparing the biometric information of each customer against the database to yield one or more people having biometric information that most closely matches the biometric information of the customer;    means for determining how closely the biometric information of each customer matches the biometric information of each other customer; and,    means for indicating to each customer the one or more people having biometric information that most closely matches the biometric information of the customer and how closely the biometric information of the customer matches the biometric information of at least one of the other customers.